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Briggs' threat resonates with Harris

Linebacker who sat out '85 Bears season hopes Bear returns

March 15, 2007|By Fred Mitchell.

Lance Briggs and Al Harris have yet to meet, but their predicaments as disgruntled Bears outside linebackers spans a generation.

Harris sat out the 1985 season and Super Bowl XX because of a contract dispute. Briggs has threatened to sit out next season, even though the current NFL collective-bargaining agreement allows the Bears to retain his rights by applying a franchise tag that would guarantee him more than $7 million in 2007.

Briggs, who says he never will play again for the Bears, would be turning his back on a guaranteed salary that is 10 times more than he was paid last year.

"I would have done cartwheels and backflips if the Bears had offered me 10 times what I had made [in 1984]," said Harris, who also played defensive end during his career.

Represented by agent Ethan Locke, Harris sat out the '85 season along with safety Todd Bell (who died March 16, 2005, at 47). Harris returned to the Bears in 1986.

"It took me until 1988 to get over [the holdout] because in '86 I felt very disconnected," he said. "There was a period of time when I felt sorry for myself. Then I got support that let me see what I have."

Harris said he is at peace with the controversial business stance that, unfortunately, labeled his otherwise stellar playing career with the Bears.

"It would have been very easy for me to leave the city of Chicago because this gets brought up to me all the time," Harris said Wednesday from his suburban home.

"The Super Bowl is a great achievement, but it's not going to make somebody happy. That's the way I look at it. I feel blessed that I have a wonderful family and wonderful friends and I had a wonderful career in the National Football League for 11 years. How can I have the audacity to mourn my career?"

Harris said he would not mind talking to Briggs about his threat to hold out. "I have never met him, but based on what I have heard, he just doesn't seem like that," Harris said. "The thing that I would caution him about is that's what happens during negotiations. You have to take your emotions out of it. With me it was not just a disagreement about contracts, it got to be emotional and personal."

Harris performed well for the Bears in 1984, but the team had drafted Wilber Marshall out of Florida that season, paying him nearly $500,000 a year.

"Our '84 defense was No. 1 in the league, and we went to the NFC championship game in San Francisco," said Harris, a first-round pick out of Arizona State in '79. "They gave Wilber almost $500,000 a year, which was a ton of money back then. So here we had Wilber sitting on the bench, and I'm starting in front of him.

"So then my contract is up, and he's making three times as much as me. We start to negotiate, and I want something close to what my backup has. They offered me only half of that. When a guy feels disrespected, now you have a double whammy to deal with."

In retrospect, Harris realizes the Bears "were in a funny position" with the desire to get Marshall on the field in 1985.

"First of all, my situation wouldn't have even happened today because I would have been a free agent," he said. "Was it fair in my eyes? No, but that's how it worked out. It opened the door for Wilber, and the rest is history."

Harris said Briggs should consider the big picture.

"It's hard for people to understand outside the athletic world," he said. "I totally understand Briggs bases everything on who he compares to. . . . He's measuring his value according to that. So in his mind, he's getting a small amount at $7 million. I know that sounds insane. But if he signs that, it's guaranteed. He's still young. He'll get his money eventually."

Word on the street

Brooks Boyer, White Sox vice president and chief marketing officer, was named to the Sports Business Journal's "40 Under 40." The recognition puts Boyer in the company of a distinguished group of individuals considered among the most influential and creative in the sports world. . . . Former White Sox outfielder Albert Belle underwent a hip-resurfacing procedure at the Neurologic & Orthopedic Institute of Chicago this week. Belle, who also played for the Indians and Orioles, suffers from osteoarthritis in his hip, a chronic condition that shortened his career.

Local attractions

The eight teams in Chicago for the NCAA tournament at the United Center this weekend will have 40-minute practices open to the public Thursday from noon until 6:40 p.m. . . . Comcast SportsNet will premiere "Net Impact" at 12:30 p.m. Sunday. The magazine show will include a feature by reporter Luke Stuckmeyer on Bulls forward Luol Deng. Through his foundation and the spotlight of professional sports, Deng works with the Lost Boys of Sudan and other victims of the civil war in Sudan.